Technical Field
This application relates to computer systems, and more particularly to a system and method for controlling air flow in a server rack.
Background
Computer server systems in modern data centers are commonly mounted in specific configurations on server racks for which a number of computing modules, such as server trays, server chassis, server sleds, server blades, etc., are positioned and stacked relative on top of each other within the server racks. Rack mounted systems allow for vertical arrangement of the computing modules to use space efficiently. Generally, each computing module can slide into and out of the server rack, and various cables such as input/output (JO) cables, network cables, power cables, etc., connect to the computing modules at the front or rear of the rack. Each computing module contains one or more computer servers or may hold one or more computer server components. For example computing modules includes hardware circuitry for processing, storage, network controllers, disk drives, cable ports, power supplies, etc.
A server rack may include a large number of fans for cooling the server rack. The fans are controlled by a rack management controller (RMC). If the RMC knows where the fans are positioned in the server rack, the RMC can use the fan position information to control fan speed based on temperature and/or load of devices in various positions in the server rack.